Patna: A website of the Bihar government has stoked controversy by stating that Indira Gandhi’s rule was worse than that of the British.

The write up on Bihar’s history speaks eloquently about the Indira Gandhi’s rule, billing it off as ‘autocratic’ and ‘oppressive’, specifically on the backdrop of Emergency.

The website goes on to shower praises on Jay Prakash Narayan (JP), a social reformer and politician who was born in Saran district of Bihar, stating that it was only JP who steadfastly and staunchly opposed the autocratic rule of Indira Gandhi and her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi.

“Fearing people’s reaction to his (JP’s) opposition, Indira Gandhi had him arrested on the eve of declaring National Emergency beginning June 26, 1975. He was put in the Tihar Jail, located near Delhi, where notorious criminals are jailed.

Thus, in Free India, this septuagenarian (JP), who had fought for India’s freedom alongside Indira Gandhi’s father, Jawahar Lal Nehru, received a treatment that was worse than what the British had meted out to Gandhiji in Champaran in 1917, for his speaking out against oppression,” the website quotes.

Angered over this, the Congress, which is a constituent of the ruling coalition has said that the references are “totally unacceptable” and that the party will raise the issue with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.